Monthly Archives: June 2016

Ever get distracted?
Feel like there are two of you?
One who keeps drifting off
And the other keeps coming back
To God?

Do you finally remember
It was never your conscious decision
To go back to that place again,
Knowing full well God holds everything
You could ever want or need?

Take the bull by the horns this time.
When you feel that familiar tug,
There is no overwhelmingly
Powerful hold on you;
Nor a guy in a red suit.
Just a suggestion wafting from
That place you go to
No longer.

The righteousness of God= When God assumes the full responsibility of making all things right apart from man, and this is accomplished through his son Jesus Christ. And all we get to do is leap for joy. Our hearts are continually being amazed at his goodness. This righteousness is revealed in the gospel. We’ve become the righteousness of God, and it’s all his doing.
David Williams

Are there certain places in your mind
(Hey, it’s just me again, don’t worry.)
Certain private places where things just simply are accepted as
“The way things are”?
You see God everywhere …
In everything …
Well, … almost!
I want to tell you, if I may …
That’s Not Good Enough!!!

It’s those little places, little spaces,
That you wanna clear out
‘Coz they loom large
At the wrong-est time
Here’s what you can do:

‘See’ God right there
In that scary place
INSTEAD OF
What your frightened mind believes
Because in fact
The Spiritual truth is
The Way Things Really Are!!!

The Great Tribulation is Behind Us
The “Great Tribulation” is not an uncommon event in the Christian calendar of God’s dealings with men. What is strange is the understanding of it. Most of us who grew up under dispensational and futuristic ideas of biblical endtimes are acquainted with the following;

That someday soon, Christ will return to the earth invisibly and snatch away all the Christians in an event known as the rapture.
After God has removed the Church, He will go back to dealing with Israel.
There will be a seven year period called the tribulation in which the earth and it inhabitants will be destroyed by God’s wrath.
At the end of the tribulation Christ will return and inaugurate the Millennium, a physical earthly kingdom.
At the end of the Millennium there will be a rebellion and Christ will come and destroy the wicked and the eternal state will begin.

Dispensationalists teach that after the Great Tribulation, all the terrible things in the book of Revelation will be poured out on this dark planet. The Jews are going to build a new temple in Jerusalem, and the Jewish sacrifices will be reinstituted. Then, during this time, the strange beast of Revelation 13 will arise. They say this Beast will enter into the temple at Jerusalem and proclaim himself to be God. He will then put into the temple a statue of himself which they say will be “the abomination of desolation.”

If you look at that doctrine you will notice 3 comings of Christ and a resurrection of the Old covenant with Israel alongside with inconsistencies in the unfolding of prophecy which ignore Jesus own direct relation to these events as to be fulfilled in that generation.

Is the “Great Tribulation” something that looms in our future or is in a past event?

Is Matthew 24 talking about an event yet future or something that occurred in the time of the disciples?

If you have a close look at Matthew 24 you will see Jesus answering the disciples questions about the destruction of Jerusalem. This is a build up from chapter 21.

The discussion that Jesus had just had with the scribes and Pharisees took place inside the Temple grounds. As they departed from the Temple the words of Jesus were, “Your house shall be left to you desolate,”. This statement still echoed in their ears of the disciples.

They pointed out the buildings of the Temple and their glorious magnificence to Jesus. There was a reverence for the temple, even in distant parts of the empire that would make it a rare and unusual thought for it to be destroyed. This was a project that took 46 years for it to be completed.
In their curiosity and in private they wanted to know when it would be destroyed, and what signs would precede the end of the age and His parousia which is the actual greek word that was rendered as “coming”.

The following verses in Matthew 24 was Jesus response to their inquiry. He gave them a prophetic cast of the journey to the end of that Old covenant age that failed to produce the kind of fruits that the Father had desired. A series of events were to play out in labour pangs for the establishment of a new order.

In Luke 21:20 Jesus told them about the abomination of desolation that was fulfilled as the Roman army who would advance to come to destroy the temple. As he related the fulfillment of that great prophecy, Jesus talks about the great tribulation.

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. – Matthew 24:21 (NKJV)

Notice the word “Then”. Then is when? a thousand years later? The “then” is referring to the context of verses 15-20; when you see the abomination of desolation, which Luke tells us is Jerusalem surrounded by armies.

The great tribulation was to take place during the “then,” during the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in the first century. The parallel of Luke’s gospel makes it so easy to see.

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. 22 “For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be GREAT DISTRESS in the land and wrath upon this people. 24 “And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be TRAMPLED by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:20-24 (NKJV) Emphasis Mine)

Notice where and who in particular verse 23 says the tribulation or distress will come upon– “the land”, which is Jerusalem and “this people,” which refers to the first century Jews, not in our time or future.
Luke’s account makes us see that the great event would be the culmination of Bible prophecy concerning the Jews.

“For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. – Luke 21:22 (NKJV)
“All things which are written,” refers to prophecy. All prophecy was to be fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem. What prophecy? About the Jews and their temple as a consequence of the Messianic rule of Christ on earth.

Daniel seems to be source of many prophetic expectation back then for the Jews and even Jesus.:

“Seventy weeks are determined For YOUR PEOPLE AND FOR YOUR HOLY CITY, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.” (Daniel 9:24 NKJV Emphasis Mine)
Daniel was told that 70 weeks had been determined on his people Israel (not the whole world), and city Jerusalem. By the end of this prophetic time period, God related to Daniel six things would be accomplished.
One of the things that Daniel was told would happen by the end of that period was that God would “seal up vision and prophecy”. The Hebrew commentaries are in agreement on the meaning of to “seal up vision and prophecy” – it means the end and complete fulfillment of all prophecy in relation to the fate of the Jews.

Daniel’s prophecy, then, tells of the time when all prophecy would cease to be given and what had been given would be fulfilled. When would this be? Daniel’s vision ends with the destruction of Jerusalem which we know occurred in 70 AD:

“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come SHALL DESTROY THE CITY AND THE SANCTUARY. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. – Daniel 9:26 (NKJV Emphasis Mine)
So Luke is saying the same thing that Daniel said, which is that at the time Jerusalem is destroyed all prophecy will be fulfilled.

All prophecy being fulfilled would include the prophecy of the Second coming (arrival in Messiahship), the resurrection, the new heavens and earth, everything prophesied to Israel would be fulfilled at the time of Jerusalem’s destruction.

“At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a TIME OF TROUBLE, SUCH AS NEVER WAS SINCE THERE WAS A NATION, EVEN TO THAT TIME. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book. – Daniel 12:1(NKJV Emphasis Mine)
This is similar to what Jesus said in his Olivet discourse:
“For then there will be GREAT TRIBULATION, SUCH AS HAS NOT BEEN SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD UNTIL THIS TIME, no, nor ever shall be. -Matthew 24:21 (NKJV)
The great tribulation was an event to confirm the second coming of Jesus according to Paul:
since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, 7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:6-8 (NKJV)

Paul also sees the destruction of Jerusalem, the days of vengeance as relevant with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The fulfillment of all prophecy, was tied up in Jerusalem’s destruction, making it an age changing event. It was indeed the end of the world from a Jewish perspective. Everything that summed up their identity, culture and living was gone up in flames.

The old heavens and earth of the world of Judaism were destroyed the new heavens and earth of a spiritual Israel were established. God made sure that the physical temple in Jerusalem was utterly destroyed, the genealogical records which qualified descendants of Aaron to serve as priests was burned and the city of Jerusalem fell.

The great tribulation was covenant judgment over Israel. It was a series of catastrophic events that befell a nation that the narration of it would put anyone into a sad state.

“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:” – Deuteronomy 28:15 (NKJV)
“And it shall be, that just as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess.” – Deuteronomy 28:63 (NKJV)
The historical account of what transpired in AD70 comes from Josephus, a non-Christian Jew who wrote at the time of Jerusalem’s destruction. In the preface to his writings “The War of the Jews,” Josephus said this, “Whereas the war which the Jews made with the Romans hath been the greatest of all those, not only that have been in our times, but, in a manner, of those that were ever heard of.” (PREFACE, Section 1)
In this he agrees with the words of Jesus that it was the most devastating thing that affected the Jewish people. It is just more than the fact that people died. All that transpired brought to a close to that Jewish age and it can’t be resurrected again. The Great Tribulation is behind us as an event in history. We now live in the endless age of the new covenant where the church, the body of Christ is the new heaven and earth. This is where righteousness dwells based on the finished work of Jesus.Simeon Edigbe

Prayer is simply an exercise in which the already real and true, but undiscovered, becomes discoverable by the one praying. I don’t just meant this in the sense of discovering what Christ has made real, etc., but simply what is true of life, the spirit, ourselves, the world, and our circumstances. There are spiritual realities, as well as things about the inner workings of our hearts that we are usually unwilling to be honest about in the normal course of life, that we discover in the silence, sometimes violence, but honesty of prayer.
Prayer is not magic, sanctified sorcery, or the act of holding God hostage until you get your way. It is simply a space in which things that are true can be seen and discovered.
Jeff Turner

This is meant for mature believers only –
God doesn’t operate in this world in the conventional, human sense. When we practice the Presence of God, this causes the world and all of it’s calamities to dissolve. We are not changing our world, but rather shifting our beliefs into a world that already exists that more closely represents the Kingdom of God……..Selah……..
Brian Lawrence

It’s never the words. It’s never the volume. It’s never the frequency or length. Sincere prayerful listening to God will always win!
RJS

Yesterday (true story) I was up on a stool
Rearranging about thirty books
On a single recently painted shelf
When suddenly
– C – R – A – C – K – !!!
The shelf broke
Knocked me off the stool
Books came tumbling down
I came tumbling down
Inches away from a plate-glass table
Books on top of me
Shelf on top of me
My first coherent thought was
“I’m not hurt!”
How’s that possible?
“Oh, it be!” said God.
My head had landed, like I said,
Inches from the glass table!!!
There had been too many books
For that kind of shelf.
(I was so glad it happened to me
And not to a guest.)
All through the day I kept hearing
“I’m not hurt! I’m not hurt!”
Then God told me to examine the evidence:
Three nasty bruises and one scrape
But zero pain and
Great thankfulness.

FOR OUR SUFFERING – IN OBEDIENCE TO THE LORD – WE SHALL RECEIVE DOUBLE BLESSINGS !!
2 Corinthians 1:5 KJV
For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

● #2 When we use Paul as our role model, our joy is ineffable!

WHEN GOD SAID “JUMP”, PAUL SAID “HOW HIGH ?”
Acts 16:9-10 KJV
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. [10] And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.

● #3 When we use Paul as our role model, our joy is ineffable!

PAUL JUST KEPT ON PRAISING GOD SIMPLY BECAUSE HE WAS SO HAPPY BEING AT ONE WITH GOD !!
Philippians 3:10 KJV
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

● #4 When we use Paul as our role model, our joy is ineffable!

PAUL DIDN’T REGARD THE PHYSICAL, KNOWING THAT HE WAS IN THE CENTER OF GOD’S WILL !!
2 Corinthians 4:18 KJV
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

● #5 When we use Paul as our role model, our joy is ineffable!

HIS SUFFERINGS WERE NOT EVEN WORTH MENTIONING !!!!!
Romans 8:18 KJV
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

● #6 When we use Paul as our role model, our joy is ineffable!

PAUL’S . L I G H T . A F F L I C T I O N S :
2 Corinthians 11:23-28 KJV
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. [24] Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. [25] Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; [26] In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; [27] In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. [28] Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
STILL THINK YOU’RE HAVING A BAD DAY ?

● #7 When we use Paul as our role model, our joy is ineffable!

GET BACK UP AND GET GOING !!
2 Corinthians 4:16 KJV
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

● #8 THERE OUGHT TO BE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOMEONE WHO IS ALIVE AND SOMEONE WHO IS DEAD !!
Romans 6:8 KJV
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

We must stay in the Spirit. Translation: we must stay aware of our oneness with God because that’s where divine Love, joy, peace and perfection are found. God wants us well and happy even more than we do, so let’s oblige Him and accept all He has to offer. And, yes, we can contain it all … by virtue of the fact that we already do!